Today was day 31 and the most significant action taken this working day was the FY24 budget. The House passed the budget on the floor of the House Chamber. There are many good things in the budget for K-12 Education including the following:
FY24 Budget Tracking Sheet Education budget is on pages 47-5.
HIGHLIGHTS
The House passed a total budget of $32.5 billion, which is an uptick of 7.4% over last years budget. Education is allocated $13.1 billion. Which is 40% of the total budget.
$2,000 teacher salary increase
GNETS funded at the same rate as previous years with a clear stance on the GNETS funding will be moved to the QBE formula in FY 25. PREPARE for the change.
There is a phase in of two years of the non-certified SHBP beginning Jan. 1, 2024, $250 per employee per month.
$1,000 salary increase for bus drivers, custodians, and nutrition employees.
$155 million increase Enrollment growth
$27 million addition for fully funding the counselor ratio of 1:450
$840 million for certified employees SHBP costs to meet the increase in employer healthcare premiums.
$16 million allocated for RESAs. Includes $2,000 salary increase and enrollment growth.
The House curriculum subcommittee entertained two bills:
SB 211 Sen. Billy Hickman – Unfortunately, the author continues to make broad statements that in this case(on the subject of reading) blames superintendents for not communicating reading issues in the state. This bill forms the Georgia Literacy Council. The council will be made up of 25 members. An amendment was offered and approved to add a statewide literacy coach and new duties for the council. It passed and is moving to the full House committee.
SB 204 – Sen Greg Dolezal – Accreditation bill to address the issue of students attending an accredited school to be eligible to receive Hope by attending colleges and universities. This bill was stopped by a political move and it added the language of HB 506 which is Rep. Ginny Erhart’s accreditation bill that was not voted on in the House on crossover day. It was an obvious surprise to some on the committee but not to others. The amended bill passed out of committee. This political drama on this bill will continue and we will update you next week.
Other bills heard in the House Policy subcommittee:
SB 32 – Sen. Jason Anavitarte – It requires for all public school classrooms to have a mobile panic alert button to contact law enforcement directly. Safety grants were referenced as a funding source for this school safety alert system. Then HB 469 and opt-in school computerized mapping system was suggested to be added to the bill. So, this caused the bill to not be moved yet. (no action)
SB 45 – Sen. Jason Anavitarte – Epilepsy/Seizure Care AJ’s bill -The seizure bill to provide training to certain school staff on seizure intervention and care in each school. No action taken.
The mischief is picking up and we certainly expect political shenanigans will increase. Have a good night. Day 32 is Monday March 13, 2023.
